NIFTY50: 19,733 ▼ 20 (-0.1%)
SENSEX: 66,459 ▼ 68 (-0.1%)
Hello, friends!
Here’s a story that really tops them all. A team of domino artists created the Guinness World Record for building the tallest tower made out of wooden blocks. As soon as the record was verified, the 27-foot tall tower was toppled. On purpose! Meanwhile, even the markets seemed to be on shaky ground and closed in the red today. More on that later.
- Benchmark indices close marginally lower after a range-bound session
- In all, 26 of the NIFTY50 stocks closed in the red
- India’s manufacturing PMI eased marginally to 57.7 in July from 57.8 in June 2023
Among the NIFTY sectoral indices, IT (+1.2%) and Metal (+0.1%) were the top gainers, while Realty (-1.7%) and PSU Bank (-0.5%) were the top losers.
| Top gainers | Today's change |
| Coal India | 241 ▲ 11 (+5.2%) |
| NTPC | 225 ▲ 6.6 (+3.3%) |
| Tech Mahindra | 1,142 ▲ 26 (+2.3%) |
| Top losers | Today's change |
| Power Grid | 252 ▼ 13 (-5.1%) |
| Hero MotoCorp | 3,100 ▼ 103 (-3.2%) |
| Apollo Hospitals | 5,037 ▼ 136 (-2.7%) |
What’s trending
⭐ Govt raises windfall tax on crude
With international crude prices rising in the past few weeks, the central government has increased the windfall tax on domestic crude oil production. It has raised the special additional excise duty (SAED) on crude petroleum to ₹4,250 per tonne from ₹1,600 per tonne, with effect from August 1. Following this announcement, shares of major oil producers, including ONGC, Oil India and Reliance Industries fell by 0.7% to 1.7% intraday.
⭐ L&T Construction bags new orders
L&T Construction, subsidiary of L&T, has won two new orders valued between ₹2,500 to ₹5,000 crore for its heavy civil infrastructure segment. The domestic order is from state-run Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) for the design and construction of an underground metro project in Kolkata. Another order was secured from a client in the Middle East to rehabilitate structures for strategic purposes. L&T’s shares were down by 0.4% today.
⭐ M&M to set up EV battery testing facility
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced plans to set up an electric vehicle (EV) battery testing facility for ₹210 crore and a crash test facility for ₹290 crore in Tamil Nadu. Additionally, the automobile major will invest ₹12 crore in its Coimbatore Information Technology facility.
⭐ Coal India’s production surges
Shares of Coal India rose more than 5% today after the company reported a 13.4% YoY rise in production in July. The total output in July 2023 stood at 53.6 million tonnes (MT), up 6.3 MT compared to 47.3 MT in July 2022. The company has set a production target of 780 MT in FY24.
In Focus
July auto sales were a mixed bag
Automakers have released their sales numbers for July 2023. As per experts auto sales numbers generally starts to move upward from the second quarter onwards. Hence, the July numbers hold a key to this trend. Let’s take a look.
Passenger vehicle sales remain stable
India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki domestic cars sales rose by 6.4% YoY to 1.5 lakh units. Higher sales came on the back of more than 166% YoY jump in utility vehicle sales along with strong demand for new launches like Jimny and Fronx.
Meanwhile, M&M reported its highest-ever SUV domestic sales of 36,205 units, up 30% YoY in July. On the flip side, Tata Motors’ domestic sales remained flat at 47,628 units. However, its electric car business continued to remain strong, clocking a 53% YoY jump in sales to over 6,000 units.
July sales indicate that demand for SUVs continues to remain strong. However, sales of mini and compact categories remained lower.
Commercial vehicle sales zoom ahead
In the commercial vehicle segment, Tata Motors reported a 14% YoY jump in sales of heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) to over 8,000 units. Meanwhile, Ashok Leyland also reported a similar rise with its domestic truck sales rising 19% YoY to 7,834 units.
Experts believe, government's continued focus on infrastructure spending along with healthy profitability for fleet operators is driving commercial vehicle sales.
Two-wheeler sales stay muted
Sales in the two-wheeler segment continue to remain subdued, with Bajaj Auto reporting a 15% YoY fall in sales to 2.6 lakh units, as sales declined in both domestic and international markets. Going by these numbers two-wheeler sales are back onto a slower growth path after witnessing higher dispatches for a couple of months. Meanwhile, sales numbers for Eicher Motors and Hero MotoCorp are awaited.
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